Opera Australia presents THE MAGIC FLUTE

Edited by Tiziano T. Dossena —


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December 30, 2015 – January 16, 2016 –

Venue: Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney –
Presented by: Opera Australia –

Princes and magic and bears, oh my!

Description –

If you go down to the woods today, you might find a pure-hearted prince and his feathered sidekick en route to rescue a damsel in distress, a queen atop her starry throne; mysterious temples, dancing bears and a levitating picnic. If in danger, just follow the sound of the flute.

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In today’s technology-soaked world, it’s rare that anything off-screen entrances a child for more than a few minutes. But look around at a performance of Julie Taymor’s production of The Magic Flute, and you’ll see children captivated. Utterly still, utterly silent (this is, when they’re not chortling with laughter or gasping with surprise). That’s because The Magic Flute is like nothing they’ve ever seen before. The stage is alive with colour and movement, the music is enchanting, the movement is magical.

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From Monostatos’ grotesque nose to the Queen of the Night’s shimmering wings, everyone and everything that appears on stage is larger than life.

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As in a Pixar film, this production brilliantly balances visual stimulation with amusing dialogue in a charming English translation. The result is a pantomime of brilliant color, set to Mozart’s timeless music.

Perhaps all you need to fire a child’s imagination is a little old-fashioned theatrical magic.

Artist Information

Conductor Rory Macdonald (until 12 Jan)
Tahu Matheson
Director Matthew Barclay
Original direction by Julie Taymor
Set designer George Tsypin
Costume designer Julie Taymor
Puppetry designers Julie Taymor
& Michael Curry
Lighting designer Gary Marder
Original lighting design Donald Holder
Choreographer Matthew Barclay
Original choreography Mark Dendy
Translation by JD McClatchy
Pamina Taryn Fiebig
Tamino John Longmuir
Papageno Samuel Dundas
Queen of the night Hannah Dahlenburg
Sarastro Daniel Sumegi
1st lady Jane Ede
2nd lady Sian Pendry
3rd lady Anna Yun
Papagena Katherine Wiles
Monostatos Kanen Breen (until 7 January)
Benjamin Rasheed
Speaker Adrian Tamburini
1st priest Malcolm Ede
2nd priest Jonathan McCauley
1st armoured man Dean Bassett
2nd armoured man Clifford Plumpton

Performance Dates

Performed in English with surtitles.

Running Time: Approximately 2 hours including one 20 minute interval

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SCHEDULE

December
Wed 30 Dec 15 7:30pm

January
Sat 02 Jan 16 1:00pm
Thu 07 Jan 16 11:00am
Thu 07 Jan 16 7:30pm
Sat 09 Jan 16 1:00pm
Sat 09 Jan 16 7:30pm
Tue 12 Jan 16 7:30pm
Thu 14 Jan 16 7:30pm
Sat 16 Jan 16 1:00pm

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